For the first time in the company’s history, Ring of Honor is without an ROH World Champion. The final title holder was Jay Briscoe, who was stripped of the World championship on July 3rd due to contractual issues. ROH Commissioner Nigel McGuinness made the announcement on Ring of Honor’s YouTube channel, as well as the announcement of a 16-man tournament to crown a new Ring of Honor World champion.

Originally it was believed that Michael Elgin, the no. 1 contender, would be given the title. But instead, Elgin insisted that the ROH World title needed to be earned and agreed to partake in the tournament. Since Ring of Honor is now without a World champion, McGuinness stated that more emphasis would be placed on the World Tag Team championships.

Around this time last year, interestingly enough, the ROH World Tag Team championships were vacated due to a contract dispute with Kenny King, who appeared on a live broadcast of TNA’s IMPACT Wrestling. Ring of Honor’s constant issues with contracts with its talents lead to its greatest threat when Steve Corino and Jimmy Jacobs won the vacant titles–the team known as S.C.U.M. (Suffering, Chaos, Ugliness, and Mayhem).

Lead by “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen, the man whose had the most issues with contracts, and, at the time, the reigning ROH World champion, S.C.U.M. terrorized the ROH Company with the agenda to destroy it as a whole. S.C.U.M. grew in size, as do most wrestling stables with a common agenda, adding Rhino to the fold.

However, Kevin Steen was ousted from S.C.U.M. after losing the World title to Jay and was replaced by new S.C.U.M. members Cliff Compton, Jimmy Rave, Rhett Titus, and centerpiece Matt Hardy. Cornio became the new leader and dangerously forced Ring of Honor to its extinction.

That was until Corino’s hubris got the better of him, and issued a challenge to Ring of Honor: S.C.U.M. vs Team ROH in a Steel Cage Warfare match. If ROH loses, they must surrender all control over to Steve Corino; but if S.C.U.M. loses, they must disband forever.

Kevin Steen, who has never been a pro-ROH guy especially due to the shady business of former Commissioner Jim Cornette, demanded from McGuinness to be placed on Team ROH. After weeks of matches against members of S.C.U.M., Kevin Steen earned his spot on Team ROH, and eventually earned the winning pinfall that disbanded S.C.U.M. forever.

Kevin Kelly, the lead commentator, shouted throughout the broadcast that Honor Lived, but it seems like Ring of Honor still has a long road of restoration ahead of them. In two weeks, the tournament will commence to crown a new ROH World champion; but in the meantime we still have the ROH World Tag Team championships.

The Ring of Honor episode following Steel Cage Warfare, the defending ROH World Tag Team champions reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly) lost the titles to the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Forever Hooligans (Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov).

Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards, two-former ROH World champions, chose not to enlist in the ROH World championship tournament because they wanted to focus and reclaim the ROH World Tag Team championships. So down the line, if not soon, expect The American Wolves vs Forever Hooligans for the titles.

Answer the Questions: Does Honor Live in Ring of Honor? Thoughts of Jay Briscoe being stripped of the ROH World championship?

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After “12 F’N Years,” Kevin Steen realized his dreams by becoming the ROH World champion. He said that he didn’t want to win the World title but that he needed to for his family, for his wife and kid, and for himself. And now that Kevin Steen is the ROH World champion, things will change as he looks to tear down Ring of Honor and rebuild it in his image.

Once referring himself as the anti-Christ of Pro Wrestling (no… not Raven or Jeff Hardy), Kevin Steen has created a perverse trinity, as seen during the closing moments of Border Wars, recruiting the “Zombie Princess” Jimmy Jacobs and his former mentor Steve Corino.

For more than a year, “The King of Old School” proclaimed that he was a changed man, and, together with his sponsor Jimmy Jacobs, Corino would do right by Ring of Honor. But after seeing the celebration following Kevin Steen’s championship victory, people are speculating whether this whole ordeal was a ruse. Was Corino truly a changed man? Or did Corino intentionally lose to Steen at Final Battle 2011 in order to reinstate his friend back to Ring of Honor?

Whatever the case may be, Kevin Steen is one step closer as the ROH World champion towards destroying Ring of Honor. And it’s not that he doesn’t like ROH because why else would he genuinely want to be World champion? No, his real frustrations lie with management. According to Steen, Jim Cornette is a close-minded, outdated piece of crap who didn’t want him in Ring of Honor. Despite carrying the company for a year, and being the guy that fans flocked to see, ROH management did everything in their power to keep Steen out of the World title picture.

Unfortunately for management, Kevin Steen succeeded in goading Davey Richards for a World championship match that he won. But before crossing the border to Canada, Steen was forced into signing a championship match contract that stated Border Wars would be his one and only shot.

One shot was all Kevin Steen needed; and now that he has the World title, he has the leverage to hold the company hostage as its new face.

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Kevin Steen, who got his job back at Final Battle after a year hiatus, calls himself the Anti-Christ of Professional Wrestling. Not to be confused with Jeff Hardy’s Immortal gimmick because Steen wants real change. Kevin was kept out of Ring of Honor because he refused to be a gutless[explicit] for Executive Producer Jim Cornette.

Kevin Steen’s opponent at Ring of Honor’s 10th Anniversary Show is Jimmy Jacobs. Jacobs returned to Ring of Honor after two-years as Steve Corino’s sponsor. Corino and Jacobs’ mission was to keep Kevin Steen out of ROH, and prove to Cornette that they were changed men. However, Jacobs had the misfortune as the referee of Corino vs Steen, to count Corino’s shoulders against the mat, and thus reinstating Kevin Steen back to Ring of Honor.

In the latest Video Wire, Kevin Steen mentioned that he once considered Jacobs a friend, on a list of friends that isn’t long by any means. But Steen questions what happened to the Jacobs he knew. The blood drinking, spike stabbing maniac from two years ago. The new Jacobs is nothing more than a gutless[explicit] afraid to lose his job. When Kevin Steen looks in the mirror he’s happy that he didn’t conform, but that Jacobs must hate himself everyday.

At ROH’s 10th Anniversary Show, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC, Kevin Steen promises that blood will be spilt, but he also suggest that March 4th will be the beginning of a revolution. Kevin Steen wants real change, and that begins with himself, Jacobs and Corino tearing down the Jim Cornette Ring of Honor, to rebuild the old Ring of Honor in their image.

That’s it for this post, feel free to check us out on YouTube – WTX Video Podcast. My buddies and I perform a wrestling video podcast where we talk wrestling, which then leads into crazy comedy sketches. Support us on YouTube, like us on Facebook, and follow me on the twitter @WrestlingTimesX.

Tonight, Ring of Honor Wrestling returned to New York City for Final Battle at the world’s famous Hammerstein Ballroom. The year-end event, which as Kevin Steen pointed out in September, always takes place in New York City. Perhaps it’s because New York houses some of the most passionate – explicit – wrestling fans in the world.

Final Battle 2011 featured a main event worthy of the name as Eddie Edwards embarked on his rematch clause against the defending ROH World champion Davey Richards. The story behind these two American Wolves is they first met on opposite sides to crown Ring of Honor’s first Television champion. Though many believed Richards would get the win, Edwards not only surprised the ROH hopefuls, but Richards as well when he walked out the Television champion. Months afterwards, at last year’s Final Battle, Richards failed in his bid for the World Title against then-champion Roderick Strong. Three months after his failed bid, Edwards defeated Strong for the World Title — that Richards had been striving for — in his first World Title opportunity. That’s when things started to heat up and ROH producer Jim Cornette goaded Richards and Edwards to compete against one another at Best in the World. Richards refused, but Edwards demanded the match and vowed he would relinquish the World Title if he did not get his match. Best in the World saw these two wolves go one on one for a second time, but this time Richards came out on top as the new ROH World Champion.

Fast-forward to tonight, Edwards was so set on regaining his championship that he enlisted the services of UFC Hall of Fame legend Dan Severen. Well into the match, after both had taken hellacious beatings from the other, Edwards applied Severen’s Beast Choker (Dragon sleeper with body scissors). The Richards loyalists held on as their champion was fading into unconsciousness, but Richards reversed the hold into the ankle lock. Both men seemed to have the other’s number throughout the course of the match. Edwards proving his resiliency to the point Richards on two back-to-back situations was more than willing to accept a count-out victory. But in the end, it was a series of effective shoot kicks to the head of Edwards that secured Richards his World championship.

However, aside from Richards pointing out the obvious to the Hammerstein crowd, Edwards is tough as hell and has a lot of heart because he proved it in the ring, Kevin Steen reminded New York that Final Battle marked his return to Ring of Honor, and that in 2012, he will become the World champion and take Ring of Honor hostage. In a No-disqualification bout against former friend/mentor Steve Corino, Kevin Steen was reinstated to Ring of Honor by way of steel chairs, steel barricades, some broken tables, and a package piledriver. With his return brought out his old nemesis, the man who drove Steen out of Ring of Honor at last year’s Final Battle, “The Generic Luchador” El Generico. The two former tag team partners shared some closed fists, but Steen drove Generico onto the broadcast table with a package piledriver.

In a strange turn of events, Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) turned heel by the Hammerstein crowd filled with Briscoe Brothers sympathizers. The Briscoe Brothers (Jay & Mark) released a YouTube blog entitled “Cosmetically Pleasing” [watch] in which they discussed WWE’s way of hiring talents. Dem Boys were well on their way to getting signed and being paid millions, until they received a notice from John Laurinaitis stating that they would not be hired because they were not cosmetically pleasing enough. Jay and Mark have busted their asses throughout the independents, setting up rings, and setting up chairs. And they posed the question, what have WGTT done to pay their dues? Granted, Haas and Benjamin took ROH by storm at Glory By Honor IX, and went on to win the World Tag Team titles at Honor Takes Center Stage, but The Briscoes have been in Ring of Honor since Day One [watch]. After a hellacious prematch beating from Haas and Benjamin, The Briscoes went through with the match and left New York with their seventh ROH World Tag Team titles.

As for Jay and Mark’s first challengers, The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) earned a future opportunity at the tag gold after winning a tag team gauntlet tournament defeating both Future Shock (Kyle O’Reilly & Adam Cole) and The All Night Express (Rhett Titus & Kenny King).

Jay Lethal successfully defended his World Television championship in a three-way elimination match against former TV champ El Generico, and “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett — who was accompanied by his manager “Brutal” Bob Evans and former WWE Diva/Playboy covergirl Maria Kanellis. PSA – Maria [watch]. Mike Bennett attempted a sound heel strategy of “let the two babyfaces tire themselves out and then go in for the easy kill,” but Lethal and Generico did manage to work together at the start before the temptation of being Television champion became too much.

That’s it for this post, feel free to check us out on YouTube – WTX Video Podcast. My buddies and I perform a wrestling video podcast where we talk wrestling, which then leads us into crazy comedy sketches. Support us on YouTube, like us on Facebook at WTXVideoPodcast, and follow me on the twitter @WrestlingTimesX.

Davey Richards pulled off an emotional victory when he finally won the ROH World Title from Eddie Edwards on June 26 at Best in the World. Emotional because wrestling consumed his life to fill the void of not having a family. At Final Battle, what was to be his final wrestling bout, became a waking call for Davey after he failed to ascertain the ROH World Title from Roderick Strong. Not only was he staying in Ring of Honor, but he made a promise to ROH officials and to the fans that the next time he challenged for the belt it would be his last. Then on March 19 at Manhattan Mayhem IV, Eddie Edwards defeated Strong for the belt. Many assumed Davey would be upset because Edwards managed to accomplish what he couldn’t, but he was genuinely happy for Eddie because he sees him as a brother.

Although Eddie Edwards was the World Champion, he couldn’t help but doubt himself. Wanting to prove that he was the best, Edwards challenged Davey Richards to a World Title match with the ultimatum, “If you don’t fight me for this World Championship, I quit.” For the first time in history, the champion challenged the challenger because Eddie felt that he may have been overlooked as part of The American Wolves since Davey is so sharp and focused on what he does in the ring. No one added these harsh stipulations, but themselves because they wanted to prove who indeed was the Best in the World.

When Eddie was caught in the ropes, he shouted at Davey who hesitated to follow-up with a strike. “Just do it!” Davey struck Eddie with a kick to the head. Eddie not only asked for this match, but he asked for Davey at his absolute best so that when it was all said and done, there would be no regrets. Eddie didn’t hold back either, having driven Davey through a ringside table with a double foot stomp. The two exchanged strikes and ankle lock submissions, but Davey overcame with a number of kicks, and before delivering the final blow told Eddie, “You asked for it.”

Mirroring what took place at Manhattan Mayhem, Eddie Edwards this time wrapped the ROH World Title around Davey Richards’s waist after a long embrace. Richards delivered a heart wrenching speech that left him his tears. He looked up and said, “Hey grandma, hey grandpa … I DID IT!”

Steve Corino has been on a road of redemption ever since costing Kevin Steen his Ring of Honor career back at Final Battle. Along with his sponsor Jimmy Jacobs, Corino advocated that Jim Cornette and ROH Officials grant Steen a second chance. The Hammerstein Ballroom erupted when they saw Steen up on the balcony. He was stopped by Cornette and crew from entering the ring and was then tossed out by security. After Corino lost his match to Michael Elgin, Truth Martini and Elgin continued by attacking both Corino and Jacobs until Kevin Steen made the save. Then after much deliberation on the part of Jim Cornette, Steen was able to talk and instead of asking for forgiveness, he cursed out Ring of Honor. “F–K ROH!” Steen turned on both Corino and Jacobs before finally being driven out of the Hammerstein Ballroom by security.

El Generico defeated “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels to earn his first singles title in Ring of Honor. Having scored a non-title victory over Daniels when ROH invaded Canada, El Generico battled for the honor of entering Ring of Honor’s new era as the new ROH World Television Champion. Christopher Daniels, despite ROH not having a television deal for several months, felt he was more qualified as the Television Champion because he was the only one still featured on television via SpikeTV. At a point in the match, The Fallen Angel felt so confident that Generico would not be able to answer the 20-count, he started strapping the belt around his waist. But when Generico broke the count, he hit the Yakuza kick and drove Daniels with a top rope Brainbuster to score the pinfall.

In other bouts at Best in the World, Tommaso Ciampa beat Colt Cabana … Jay Lethal pinned Mike Bennett with a diving elbow drop in respect to Randy Savage … Homicide beat Rhino in a No Holds Barred Street Fight … Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin last eliminated The Kings of Wrestling to retain the ROH World Tag Team Titles in a Four Way Elimination match also involving The All Night Express and Jay and Mark Briscoe.

The dark match, which will be available as a DVD exclusive, was a Dream Tag Team match between Generation Me (The Young Bucks) against the new up-and-comers Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly.

If WWE and TNA are ever in the market to learn how to compose a compelling storyline, they should watch Kevin Steen. His feud with El Generico, which spanned all of 2010, and this segment at Best in the World is entertainment and impeccable storytelling at its finest.

Until next time: Remember to subscribe to Wrestling Times X to receive new posts directly to your e-mail. Share this and all posts. And follow me on Twitter @WrestlingTimesX for quick rants.

Welcome back to The Wrestling Times! Earlier in the week the news broke out that Ring of Honor Wrestling was sold to Sinclair Broadcast Company. Former ROH owner Cary Silkin had this to say, “We have been waiting for and working for this opportunity for quite some time, and of our 9 years in business, there has been no better roster of wrestlers than this one to expose the ROH product to the masses. With Sinclair’s resources and many avenues of distribution, we believe many new fans around the world will be as captivated as those who have followed Ring of Honor over the years.” So let’s discuss what this means to us, the wrestling fans.

First off, Cary Silkin, along with Jim Cornette,Delirious, Dave Prazak, and Kevin Kelly, will remain with ROH. They have promised that ROH will not convert to the Sport’s Entertainment format; and it will continue touring its usual venues, while adding new ones along the way. Whew! All good things to hear.

But that’s not all! This Fall, ROH is set to debut a weekly televised program. So for the fans that heavily petitioned for a television station to pick them up: Mission Accomplished.

So what does this all mean? Better exposure, better production value, and a better opportunity to reach new fans. But if you don’t happen to live in a market with a Sinclair station, don’t worry because Mr. Silkin stated, “Through our revamped website we will be able to make the TV show available to anyone in the world with internet access.” That sounds great to me, Cary.

Then depending on how successful the product is, ROH would be able to afford to keep their talents. And unlike the unruly spending tactics of TNA Wrestling, Ring of Honor currently does not have to worry about any ego-driven, money-grubbing veterans of yesteryear to short change the rest of the roster. But, in order to get more people interested in the product, ROH probably, and will, resort to bringing in former WWE/TNA wrestlers.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s voting landscapes should experience some drastic changes now that ROH will be more widely available.

Many assume that WWE is the be-all end-all of professional wrestling, and the million or so fans that tune in every Thursday to catch Impact Wrestling in need of an alternative, can find it with Ring of Honor.

The first official step towards a bigger, badder, and better ROH will occur the afternoon of June 26th when Ring of Honor returns to NYC on iPPV – “Best in the World 2011.” On this day, all champions will defend their titles. This means ROH World Heavyweight Champion Eddie Edwards, ROH World TV Champion Christopher Daniels, and ROH World Tag Team Champions Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin will put their gold on the line.

And it’s not to say that ROH is the be-all end-all of pro wrestling’s alternative, it’s a prime example that there is more out there than the Top Two. After listening to Colt Cabana’s podcast with Excalibur, it sparked my interest in Pro Wrestling Guerrila, stationed out in Los Angeles. And when the funds are available, I’ll definitely check out some of their DVDs (available at HighSpots.com). Speaking of alternatives, NWA Hollywood episodes are available on its homepage (NWAHollywood.com), including the episode when Cabana won the NWA Heavyweight Championship.

There is just so much more out there in the world of professional wrestling, take the time to explore other companies, including (but not limited to) ROH, NWA Hollywood, PWG, SHIMMER Women’s Athletes, Women Superstars Uncensored, Chikara, Dragon Gate USA, and Evolve.

That’s it for this post. What does Ring of Honor Wrestling being bought by Sinclair Broadcast Company mean to you? What do you hope to gain from this? Please jot them down in the comment box, or send me a line on twitter. My twitter handler is WrestlingTimesX. There are also some nifty share buttons on the bottom: Spread the word!

Ring of Honor Wrestling presented “Big Bang!” on iPPV from Charlotte, North Carolina featuring two “Match of the Year” contender matches as Tyler Black defended the ROH World Title against Roderick Strong and Austin Aries in a Triple Threat Elimination Match. And Jay and Mark Briscoe defended the ROH World Tag Team Titles against The Kings of Wrestling. This DVD also includes a bonus match: Blue Demon, Jr. and Magno vs. Super Parka and Misterioso.

Welcome back to The Wrestling Times. With last week being the lackluster week that it was in professional wrestling, I decided to turn back the clock to April 3, 2010. On this night, Ring of Honor made their mark in the world of professional wrestling by delivering a glitch-free internet pay-per-view, and delivering two amazing main events. So you know the drill. Let’s discuss–are you ready?–ROH REWIND!

The story surrounding the ROH World Championship was a war of “Who deserved a Title Match?” On the one hand, Austin Aries, who had lost the belt to Tyler Black at the ROH 8th Anniversary Show, was entitled to a rematch, while Roderick Strong was promised a championship match. So, in order to give everyone a fair opportunity, Jim Cornette announced that the Championship Match would be contested under Triple Threat Elimination Rules.

TNA Wrestling may have the right to boast on having some of the biggest names in professional wrestling, but when a Triple Threat Steel Cage Match for its World Title between Sting, Mr. Anderson, and Rob Van Dam lasts no more than eight minutes, they have to wonder whether they made a bum deal. This Three-Way between Black, Strong, and Aries went past the thirty-one minute mark, which tells me that Ring of Honor Wrestling knows what makes a great wrestling match. It’s not signing over-priced, over-hyped, wrestlers relevant a decade or two ago, it’s focusing on those who actually have the talent and endurance to leave it all in the ring. Three unknowns outside the independent circuits created a bigger impact for their promotions, than three “mega-stars” were able to accomplish in the past year-and-a-half.

Cornette had taken extra precaution to make sure no monkey-business took place by having Todd Sinclair officiating inside the ring, and Tommy Young officiate on the outside. Cornette hand-selected Young because he had officiated the majority of “The Dirtiest Player of the Game’s” matches, so he knew all the tricks.

The match was simply incredible. Austin Aries, in his signature pink feather coat, halted the start of the bout with some smack talk to his competitors, and to Tommy Young (not so young). As a heel, there is no one more entertaining and skillful than A-Double. If WWE does not sign him soon, they will seriously miss the boat. Roderick Strong is known as “The Messiah of the Backbreaker” for a reason, because out of no where, his victims fall prey to Death by Roderick or the Half-nelson Backbreaker. Sadly, Tyler Black (currently signed to a WWE developmental contract) had some of the best title defenses in the company’s history, and still received heat from the fans. When Tyler became champion, he became a victim of a heel turn by circumstance.

The other great match was between The Briscoe Brothers against The Kings of Wrestling. This was the night when Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli earned their second championship as a team, and would reign for almost a year. The match concluded after Hero struck Jay with the loaded elbow pad. (Immediately after the 3-count, Jay rushed to the side of the ring and started puking his brains out.) Recently in Pro Wrestling Illustrated, the readers voted for the “Tag Team of the Year,” and the decision went to The Motor City Machine Guns, with The Hart Dynasty and Beer Money Inc. as first and second runner-ups. And way in third runner-up were The Kings of Wrestling. Is this to say that KOW or The Briscoe Brothers are shoddy tag teams? Far from it. The issue was obviously the amount of exposure that TNA and WWE have over ROH. If more people attended ROH live events, and purchased the DVDs, Ring of Honor Wrestling would steal the PWI “Tag Team of the Year” award and runner-up positions. ROH has, undoubtedly, the best tag team division in all of professional wrestling.

Speaking of tag teams, the feud between El Generico and Kevin Steen became serious on this night. For months, since Final Battle 2009, Generico didn’t have the heart to fight back. Steen clearly moved on when he started teaming with his mentor (former AWA, NWA, and ECW Champion) Steve Corino. Generico, with Colt Cabana, challenged Steen and Corino to a tag team bout, and even though it ended in a disqualification, after Steen struck Cabana with a steel chair, the fire was lit in El Generico.

Another gem on this DVD was the Pick 6 Series Match between (5) Kenny King and Davey Richards. King, one-half of The All Night Express, is one of the most athletically gifted talents in Ring of Honor today. (Some have even compared him to Shelton Benjamin.) For those of you unaware of the Pick 6, it is a ranking system of wrestlers eligible to challenge for the ROH World Championship. In this case, Kenny King was ranked number 5, with Richards (unranked) attempting to assume his spot. And assume he did, as Davey Richards defeated King in a classic bout. But it wasn’t all celebration for The American Wolf, as “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels made his return to Ring of Honor, and flat out challenged Richards to a future bout to see who was truly the Best in the World.

Before I end this, I wanted to get one more jab at TNA. The opening contest was Phill Shatter against Zack Salvation. Only in TNA could they take a promising athlete like Phill Shatter (n.k.a. Murphy) and make him into nothing.

Until next time: Remember to please subscribe, tell a friend, phone a friend, add The Wrestling Times to your web browsers’ favorites on your computer and your mobile devices. Follow me on Twitter @WrestlingTimesX for quick rants, which I will be too lazy to post on this site. Oh, and RT everything I say because it’s golden!